The Canutillo Independent School District Board of Trustees approved several key leadership positions in its district administration and at Congressman Silvestre & Carolina Reyes Elementary School.

Marnie Rocha was selected as the new associate superintendent replacing Dr. Veronica Vijil, who was recently named the superintendent of Fabens ISD. Rocha is in her 28th year of service in education. She most recently served as Canutillo ISD’s executive director of Curriculum & Instruction, where she was an integral part of the district’s exemplary performance A- rating in academic accountability.

Rocha previously served as the principal of Alderete Middle School in Canutillo ISD, where during her tenure, it became one of only a handful of schools in the county to earn all-academic achievement designations. She has a Bachelor’s degree in History and a Master’s in Education from The University of Texas at El Paso.

Debra Y. Kerney, Ph.D. was also selected to lead the district as the Executive Director of Curriculum & Instruction. Dr. Kerney most recently served as principal since the opening of Reyes Elementary School in 2015.

Dr. Kerney has more than 20 years of classroom and administrative experience with about 13 of those years in Canutillo ISD. She previously served as the assistant principal at Jose H. Damian Elementary and received her Ph.D. in Teaching, Learning, and Culture from The University of Texas at El Paso.

And finally, Jessica Carrillo was selected as the new principal at Reyes Elementary. She most recently served as assistant principal at Bill Childress Elementary School. Her previous work at Reyes Elementary led her to be named the 2018 National Assistant Principal of the Year for Texas by the Texas Elementary Principals and Supervisors Association (TEPSA). She was also selected as Assistant Principal of the Year in Region 19 by TEPSA last year.

Carrillo has about 14 years’ experience in education serving as a teacher, instructional coach, and early childhood district coordinator. She is a graduate of The University of Texas at El Paso with a Bachelor of Interdisciplinary Studies with a minor in Elementary Education and a Master of Education – Instructional Specialist in Bilingual Education.

“I strongly believe that the team we have in place today has already proven themselves as leaders and innovators who contributed greatly to the high achievement and recent recognition our district has received,” said Superintendent Dr. Pedro Galaviz. “Now, we only look ahead to the continued efforts of lifting our students even higher than before, and maintaining our position as a premier district.”